Lead Tidbit

Here we are... again

Seven weeks. That’s what we count. From the first day of Pesach until Shavuot. Sounds like a reasonably long period of time, but it is unusually filled with many different dates of different significances.
First there is the rest of Pesach. And Isru Chag (and Maimuna). That already cuts things down to six weeks. And then, before the (mostly) joyous month of First Redemption is out, we have Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In addition to Tish’a b’Av (in the summer) and Asara b’Tevet (in the winter), Yom HaShoa is designated as a memorial for the Holocaust and the strength and courage displayed by many Jews during that blackest of times in our history. Although some religious circles object to choosing a date in Nisan for a sad commemoration, the fact is that the Omer mourning period has begun according to some opinions, and we have said AV HARACHAMIM just a week earlier, on the last day of Pesach. Furthermore, marking the Holocaust so soon after Pesach serves as a stark example to that which proclaimed on Seder night - B’CHOL DOR VADOR, OM’DIM ALEINU L’CHALOTEINU - in every generation, there are those who rise up against us, to vanquish us.
Additionally (although this might be another way of saying the same thing), the period of the Omer is a microcosm - or possibly a preview - of the full sweep of Jewish History. Pesach, of course, commemorates the birth of the Jewish People. Shavuot marks both the Receiving of the Torah (Z’MAN MATAN TORATEINU) and the entrance into Eretz Yisrael (YOM HABIKURIM). As G-d put it to Moshe in His first appearance to him, at the burning bush - in one single pasuk (Sh’mot 3:8) - “I will go down to save them from Egypt and to bring them up to a good and expansive land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” A few p’sukim later, G-d tells Moshe that the sign (proof?) that He has sent Moshe to take the people out is that they will return to this spot (Har Chorev, Har Sinai) to serve Him (to receive the Torah and enter into an everlasting covenant with G-d). That pretty much covers it all. It leaves out a lot of detail - including a lot of bad detail, but it covers the whole course of Jewish History. Exodus, Torah, Eretz Yisrael (with Beit HaMikdash).
Note too that this sequence happened (happens and will happen) more than once. We leave exile, return to Torah, re-enter Eretz Yisrael.
And along the road of Jewish History we’ve had our tragedies - those that the mournful aspect of the Omer mark, as well as the Holocaust (and many other experiences).
And Yom HaZikaron L’Chal’lei Tzaha"l, Memorial Day to Israel’s fallen. The modern State of Israel’s wars and terrorist attacks against us are and have been a variation on a theme, but they too go into the timeline of Jewish History.
Yom HaAtzmaut, marking the establishment of the State of Israel, would be significant at any time of the year - but at the beginning of Iyar, during the Omer, it has a special significance. It fits into the flow of Pesach to Shavuot, from slavery and oppression to receiving the Torah and to having the Beit HaMikdash in Eretz Yisrael. It is “on the road” of Jewish History. We are not “there” yet, but we are on the way. As we said in DAYEINU, “had you brought us into Eretz Yisrael but not yet with a standing Beit HaMikdash, DAYEINU - there would be sufficient cause to thank You. It is foolish to view the modern State of Israel as the complete realization of our age-old dream (as some - many? - secular Zionists believe), and it is folly to dismiss Medinat Yisrael as nothing (as some - many? - religious non-Zionists do).
As we have written many times, the “healthy” attitude towards the State of Israel and towards the celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut is encapsulated in the official exchange of greetings for Yom HaAtzmaut: One says to his follow, MO’ADIM L’SIMCHA (good Yom Tov, times for rejoicing), and his fellow answers, LIG-ULA SH’LEIMA, towards the complete redemption. This is expressed several other ways in the davening and readings for Yom HaAtzmaut, and it represents - as mentioned above - the ‘healthiest’ attitude. G-d, we appreciate and thank You for the opportunity to build a society of Jews in their (our) intended venue, and to strive to live a life of Torah here in anticipation of and to do our share to hasten the time of Mashiach.
Yom Yerushalayim at the end of Iyar further shows us another milestone on the road of Jewish History. There’s more, but we’ll suffice to say may we see the full realization of our dreams…

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